CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Chris Coons

Interview

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BLITZER: It certainly is. We're showing our viewers pictures of the secretary of state meeting with the top Iraqi leadership in Baghdad just a little while ago. I want you, Michelle, to stand by, as well. I want to continue this conversation with Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware. He's a key member of both the Foreign Relations and the Judiciary Committees.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us. Let me get your reaction to the breaking news, the secretary of state Mike Pompeo making this unannounced trip to Baghdad in Iraq in light what the U.S. officials, Trump administration officials claim is a new and escalating threat for Iran.

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D), DELAWARE: Wolf, this is a striking development. It's a reminder of how hard we need to work to protect American forces in Iraq and Syria, in Bahrain and in Qatar. We still have significant forces in the region. We are still, obviously, actively engaged in Afghanistan, which is not that far. It's just on the other side of Iran.

And I am concerned about public reports that American troops in the region may well be at risk of Iranian attacks. So I'm encouraged that Secretary Pompeo is investing the time and the initiative to buttress our relationship with our Iraqi partners.

But as you just mentioned, Wolf, it's also striking to think about the fact that, so far, so many years after the conclusion of our active combat role in Iraq, it is still not safe, it is still not settled. And I frankly think we need to be working more closely in coordination with our core allies.

The ways in which our president has recently made significant policy announcements on Twitter or abruptly, without consultation with our allies, undermines efforts to try and build a regional coalition to contain Iran and to make sure that everyone who is working with us, whether it was in the counter-ISIS coalition or in a coalition to contain Iran, is fully informed and on board.

BLITZER: The Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, he canceled a scheduled meeting with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the German foreign minister in order to make this unannounced visit to Iraq. I know you're being briefed on the latest development.

How urgent is this Iranian threat to U.S. interests in that part of the world?

COONS: Wolf, I have not gotten a specific briefing on the current intelligence about the Iranian threat, so I don't want to misrepresent how many members of the Senate have been briefed on this.

I think it is, at this point, at a very high level, only the most senior folks here and folks on intelligence. So obviously, what I know is just from press reports.

Iran does have an advanced and sophisticated ballistic missile capability. Iran is a very malign actor in the region. And for them to support the Houthi rebels in Yemen, including by sending them missiles, they have engaged in a lot of illicit shipping of material in the region.

I suspect that, in order to raise the alarm to this level, where we're deploying an aircraft carrier group and where the secretary of state is making this unannounced visit, there must be much more pressing intelligence or reasons why we need to be more actively engaged in protecting our troops in the region.

BLITZER: Yes, the U.S. is moving that aircraft carrier battle group, that strike group, to the region, also some bombers, as well. Earlier today your colleague, the independent senator, Angus King of Maine, said, and I'm quoting him now, "I have this creepy feeling that this is a weapons of --

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BLITZER: -- mass destruction in Iraq and that there are motions towards a confrontation with Iran, that it would be, it would be a very, very serious conflict."

He's suggesting that he's worried about whether all of these escalated fears are genuine.

COONS: Well, that is a legitimate concern. As you mentioned in a previous segment, others around the world still remember the tragic error of our invasion of Iraq on faulty intelligence.

I do think it's important that we in Congress both hold the administration accountable for briefing us fully before taking any significant military action but also, keep in mind, that we've got troops at risk in that region. And Iran is a truly bad actor, not just in this immediate region but

around the world. So we have to strike a responsible balance here on this particular issue, Wolf, and make sure that we are protecting our troops while still making sure that the intelligence presented is sound and is credible and actionable.

BLITZER: Well, I want to move on to some other issues.

But do you have confidence in the president's national security team, the secretary of state, the national security adviser, the acting Secretary of Defense?

COONS: There's nothing about this situation that would give me grounds to say I don't have confidence in them. I have real concerns about how they've been conducting foreign policy; in particular, taking us out of important multi-lateral agreements, putting at risk our long-standing alliances with NATO or in the Pacific.

But I have no reason to have a lack of confidence in the decision- making in this specific scenario.

BLITZER: All right. I want to move on to some other issues. We're going to continue to stay on top of all the breaking news involving this unannounced visit by the secretary of state Mike Pompeo to Baghdad. But let me get your thoughts on some other developments unfolding. And you're on the Judiciary Committee.

The White House says that Don McGahn, the president's former White House counsel doesn't have the legal right to provide documents subpoenaed by Congress.

Do you believe this is a valid legal argument?

COONS: Well, I don't think so. I think Don McGahn -- frankly I think it's the president who has waived executive privilege by allowing Don McGahn to testify to the special counsel and share things to the president's own personal attorneys. That's an issue that may end up being litigated in court.

More broadly, it's pretty striking that, just a few weeks ago, the president was claiming complete and total exoneration and is now taking steps to prevent Don McGahn, the White House counsel who provided so much information to the special counsel, from even appearing in front of Congress.

I do think this is one of those instances where -- I'll repeat a line I said a number of times before. If the president's truly innocent, he ought to act like it and allow White House counsel McGahn to testify to Congress.

BLITZER: One of the arguments they make over at the White House is that the president allowed Don McGahn to spend 30 hours testifying before the special counsel, Robert Mueller and his investigations, because that was also within the executive branch, the Justice Department, of the U.S. government. And it's different than allowing McGahn to testify before the

legislative branch, a different branch of the U.S. government, namely the Congress.

Do you believe that's a valid argument?

COONS: I don't. We have a specific and unique role under the Constitution in the Congress in terms of overnight and accountability for actions of the President of the United States. And if there's anything we learned from the Mueller report, it was, first, there is a blinding clarity now, that Russia really did engage in a broad spectrum effort to interfere in our 2016 election.

And we need to be doing more to protect our upcoming elections in 2020. But second, that there were 10 different specific instances when members of the administration or the president himself engaged in conduct which could credibly be described as obstruction of justice or the elements of an obstruction of justice.

And I think that deserves oversight by the Congress of the United States.

BLITZER: Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, thanks so much for joining us.

COONS: Thank you, Wolf.

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